Happy New Year
And with that, we’ll be wrapping up our live blog of New Year’s Eve celebrations around the world. From Samoa to Sydney to Santiago, it’s been 20 hours of ringing in 2019.
Who had the best fireworks? Is it ever worth donning a diaper to stand in Times Square? Just how embarrassing is it that Sydney projected 2018 onto the Harbour Bridge? Questions abound.
For those of you on the west coast of the US, and in Hawaii, there’s still 3 to 6 hours left of 2018. The rest of us are way out ahead in 2019. Happy New Year everyone, we hope you enjoyed it.
And finally, pictures of the big moment from New York:
From Toronto:
And from Vina del Mar in Chile
Here’s the aftermath of Russell Crowe’s party:
— Russell Crowe (@russellcrowe) January 1, 2019
While we wait for pictures to come in from the Americas, here’s the best of Australia’s New Year’s Eve celebrations
Updated
Sorry, that earlier post should say “Happy annually recurring day that carries no scientific significance whatsoever!”
HAPPY NEW YEAR on the Gregorian Calendar.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) January 1, 2019
January 1. An annually recurring day that carries no scientific significance whatsoever.
Roman Coin: The god Janus, looking forward & backwards, after whom the month of January was named. pic.twitter.com/OFThr6K3iJ
Happy New Year to New York, Boston, Miami, Toronto, Havana, Bogota and Lima!
Some pictures of New Year’s Day in Japan – where people are visiting the Meiji Shrine in Tokyo.
Half an hour until midnight on the US east coast, Toronto, Cuba, Venezuela and Peru.
Here are the expectant crowds in New York, doing their best to cope with the rain.
Earlier today, the US military deleted a New Year’s tweet where they used a tenuous link to the Times Square ball to joke about dropping bombs.
The US Strategic Command has apologized for a New Year’s tweet alluding to dropping bombs, saying it was “in poor taste” and “does not reflect our values.” https://t.co/J7XvcsLJnQ pic.twitter.com/BP84fzx5lo
— The Situation Room (@CNNSitRoom) December 31, 2018
The tweet, from the official account of US Strategic Command, featured footage of a B-2 bomber dropping Massive Ordnance Penetrators – known as “bunker busters”.
“Times Square tradition rings in the New Year by dropping the big ball,” it said. “If ever needed, we are #ready to drop something much, much bigger.”
The account quickly deleted the tweet, and said sorry.
Our previous NYE tweet was in poor taste & does not reflect our values. We apologize. We are dedicated to the security of America & allies.
— US Strategic Command (@US_Stratcom) December 31, 2018
Updated
In more unlikely pairings, Australian football legend Tim Cahill is hanging out with pop star Rita Ora.
NEW YEARS EVE CELEBRATIONS with this superstar @ritaora 🤩😜🎶 @RitaOra pic.twitter.com/n0b938Nru5
— TIM CAHILL (@Tim_Cahill) January 1, 2019
Happy New Year to Venezuala, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and Nova Scotia, Canada!
Here’s the Arc de Triomphe, with accompanying laser show and techno beats.
In other news, former wrestler Hulk Hogan is hanging out with pop star Dua Lipa.
Dua Lipa has a new bodyguard brother,yo Calvin partying with your girl. HH pic.twitter.com/BaDZbTbITV
— Hulk Hogan (@HulkHogan) January 1, 2019
More phenomenal images from Brazil:
Happy New Year from Kanye West.
Tweeting is legal and also therapeutic
— ye (@kanyewest) December 31, 2018
Three fantastic matching pictures from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil:
Frankfurt, Germany:
And Rotterdam, The Netherlands:
Updated
Happy New Year to Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Suriname!
Here’s something a lot better – the video wrap of London’s celebrations:
And for something even sadder, here’s video game streamer Ninja – who is performing this year in Times Square – trying and completely failing to get the crowd to floss.
On the main stage of Times Sq, Ninja's goal of getting one million New Yorkers to do the floss dance comes just short by 999,995 pic.twitter.com/3Fgvui2MAB
— Rod Breslau (@Slasher) January 1, 2019
“I wanna see some movement,” he says. “I’m not seeing enough movement.”
Disneyland in Anaheim, California may have to cancel this year’s fireworks.
Due to high winds, tonight’s New Year's Eve “Fantasy in the Sky” fireworks may be canceled. Be sure to stop by our Countdown Celebrations in either Disneyland or Disney California Adventure Park. Check the Disneyland app or pick up a Times Guide for details.
— Disneyland Today (@DisneylandToday) January 1, 2019
And meanwhile on the east coast, partygoers in New York are waiting in Times Square.
It’s raining, 7C (45F), and some of them can’t even see the ball.
Want to feel better about your life decisions? These people are all penned in, in the rain, an entire avenue away from where the ball drops. And they have four hours left to wait. pic.twitter.com/ENYbXA1cDe
— Benjamin Hoffman (@BenHoffmanNYT) January 1, 2019
Many Times Square revellers also wear adult diapers so they can get in early and grab the best spots – once you’re in a cordoned off section, you can’t get out until the ball drops.
Here’s a preview of events in California from Dani Anguiano:
In California, residents are ringing in the new year with large celebrations in across the state.
200,000 are expected to gather along San Francisco’s waterfront for midnight fireworks, while in Los Angeles revellers are flocking downtown for the city’s annual countdown, which will feature musical performances and large displays of art from local schoolchildren.
Southern California is experiencing chilly and blustery weather, which is expected to last into the new year, posing a challenge for spectators at celebratory events like Pasadena’s 130th annual Rose parade. Off the coast, there were several reports of funnel clouds, including around San Diego. The National Weather Service said the clouds, despite their resemblance, were not tornadoes as that requires contact with the ground.
Meanwhile, prominent Californians shared their memories of the year, and best wishes for 2019. Senator Kamala Harris, widely considered a 2020 presidential contender, highlighted Dr Christine Blasey Ford and increased representation of women in Congress. Harris and other prominent Democrats also used New Year’s Eve to criticize Trump over the government shutdown, which will continue into 2019, and has been causing chaos at California’s beloved national parks during the holiday season.
While @realDonaldTrump drags the nation into #TrumpShutdown Week 2 and sits in the White House & tweets, without offering any plan that can pass both chambers of Congress, Democrats are taking action to lead our country out of this mess.
— Nancy Pelosi (@NancyPelosi) December 31, 2018
Updated
Happy New Year to Brazil!
Watch below for footage of Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana beach.
🎆🎇🎆🎇🎆
— TicToc by Bloomberg (@tictoc) January 1, 2019
Rio welcomed the new year with a dazzling fireworks display over Copacabana Beach #HappyNewYear2019 pic.twitter.com/N6bsjfpYtI
The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has used his New Years message to extend a welcome to all “one million EU citizens” in the city.
Sending a message across the globe: London's diversity will always be our strength. Our one million EU citizens are Londoners, they make a huge contribution, and no matter the outcome of Brexit - they will always be welcome.
— Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) January 1, 2019
Happy New Year, London. 🇪🇺#LondonIsOpen #LondonNYE pic.twitter.com/OR8qWqOER1
The Arc de Triomphe in Paris
The Parthenon in Athens
The Colosseum in Rome
And here are (some of) the best pictures from across Europe.
Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate:
The Balmoral Hotel clock in Edinburgh – just as it struck midnight:
Fireworks over the Kremlin in Moscow:
The pictures are in from London:
In Sydney, last night’s fireworks organisers are shaking their heads after they accidentally projected the wrong year onto the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
As the clock struck 12 on the biggest New Year’s celebration in Australia*, the iconic bridge lit up, 8.5 tonnes of fireworks flew over the Opera House...and two giant pylons read “Happy New Year 2018!”, instead of 2019.
Happy New Year 2019. @sydney ; is it typo error? pic.twitter.com/95vhOcNaWo
— Gyanendra Regmi (@Gyanendra_Regmi) December 31, 2018
Oh no it’s 2018 again #typo https://t.co/G0TxI5yb7d pic.twitter.com/nst10Eb2ru
— Izzy Erskine (@izzyerskine) December 31, 2018
It’s morning now, and revellers are sharing pictures of last night’s embarrassing typo with glee. Sydney’s harbourside fireworks are the city’s biggest public event of the year, one of the earliest major fireworks in the world, and this year cost $5.8m.
*sorry Melbourne
Updated
Happy New Year!
London’s fireworks are live, here:
London's Big Ben rings in the New Year as fireworks light up the sky https://t.co/wlauAHNgft
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) December 31, 2018
More from New York, courtesy of Joanna Walters:
Donald Trump is set for an unusually quiet, even lonely, New Year’s Eve in a divided America. The president normally hosts a flamboyant black-tie gala at his private Florida club, Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach. But this year he’s rattling around the White House in Washington, apparently waiting for a deal from Democrats to fund his promised wall on the border with Mexico - a deal that is not forthcoming. The federal government is now in its 10th day of being partially shut down, after Trump refused to back away from his demand for taxpayers’ money for the wall and Congress declined to acquiesce.
He tweeted earlier on New Year’s Eve: “I’m in the Oval Office. Democrats, come back from vacation now and give us the votes necessary for border security, including the wall…”
The sound of presidential typing must have echoed off the walls, then rustled through the red, fake Christmas trees, into the political void.
Trump is scheduled to do a TV interview on Fox News later in the evening, some time after 10PM local time (3AM GMT), when he is likely once again to try to blame his government shut down on the Democrats - and may possibly speak to his desolate New Year’s Eve at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Perhaps later he’ll curl up with a cheeseburger and re-read his own book The Art of the Deal.
But the party will just be getting started at Mar-a-Lago, a little more subdued than usual as the divisive Trump presidency continues to upset many people, even in Florida. But according to one club member talking to Vanity Fair, it will be more pleasant for some without its traditional, larger-than-life host.
Photos are in from Turkey.
Nairobi is celebrating an “eventful, memorable and meaningful” year.
Here we are, at the end of yet another year that was a just eventful, memorable and meaningful. We hope that 2019 has the best to offer you all.#HappyNewYear2019#HappyNewYear pic.twitter.com/m1UQOMKzSL
— The City Of Nairobi (@CityOfNai) December 31, 2018
There’s just two hours to go until 2019, in the UK! Still time to finish writing those resolutions.
Elsewhere in the world, the midnight bells just struck in Cairo, Athens, Bucharest and Johannesburg.
Brussels, Madrid, Paris, Rome and Algiers will enjoy their last moments of 2018 in less than an hour.
This year’s Hogmanay celebrates the ties between Scotland and Europe as the UK prepares to leave the EU in 2019, its organisers have told the Press Association.
Bands, DJs, street performers, dancers, acrobats and fire eaters from Scotland and mainland Europe are scheduled to perform at the street party, one of the largest in the world, which is running for several hours, until well after the midnight bells fall silent.
Revellers can enjoy music across three stages, with Scottish favourite Gerry Cinnamon appearing on the Waverley stage, Judge Jules leading the DJ stage in Castle Street and Elephant Sessions set to take to the stage in South St David Street.
At midnight, German band Meute will provide the soundtrack to the fireworks display from Edinburgh Castle while Eurodance outfit Snap! are set to perform on one of the stages in the first minutes of 2019.
Meanwhile, Franz Ferdinand - supported by Metronomy and Free Love - will headline the Concert in the Gardens ahead of midnight at the foot of Castle Rock while some of the country’s top ceilidh bands are to play at Ceilidh under the Castle.
First in the queue to see Franz Ferdinand were Jessica Cassino, 37, from Brooklyn, New York, and 28-year-old Alina Entelis, from Israel. “I love Franz Ferdinand. Edinburgh’s beautiful, I love it,” said Cassino. “I’ll be back next year.”
Entelis, who is currently studying in London, said: “When I started looking at the Franz Ferdinand concert, I saw a bunch of other events going on. I was participating in the torchlight procession on Sunday and I loved it.
“I feel like Edinburgh is the best place to be on New Year’s Eve right now. Everybody is jealous of me back home! I’ve been here once before and I loved it, and I was really looking forward to coming back. I think it’s magical and I’ve recommended it to a bunch of my friends.”
The crowd featured first-time visitors, return visitors and those with family links to Scotland. It was the first time in Edinburgh for couple Myriam Malquin, 25, and David Maheo, 26, from Brittany in France.
Maheo said: “We wanted to go to a European capital for New Year. We saw that there was a big party in Edinburgh, so we came. It’s great. It’s very interesting to see the castle, all the buildings.”
Georgina McGuire, 26, from Woking in Surrey, praised the friendliness of the local residents. “I love Edinburgh - there are good vibes and lots of sparkle. Everyone is so friendly,” she said.
Michelle Rossiter, 30, a speech therapist from Sydney, currently working in London, said: “My heritage is from Scotland, my grandmother, that’s why I’m here.
“We’ve already met some Scottish people, some Edinburgh locals, and they’re all really friendly. I’m looking forward to the concert. Sydney has some pretty good fireworks, and I am looking forward to fireworks over the castle, but the concert, definitely, is the main thing I’m excited about.”
Scotland’s Europe minister Ben Macpherson said: “Edinburgh is one of the world’s best-known cities for bringing in the New Year. Few places celebrate quite like Scotland - the home of the world-renowned Hogmanay celebrations.
“Scotland’s ties with our European and international friends and neighbours stretch back many centuries, and this year’s celebrations reflect those ties of friendship, business, culture and commerce - strong ties that the Scottish Government and so many others are determined to see endure, whatever the New Year holds in terms of the Brexit process.”
Elsewhere in Scotland, Inverness is hosting Scotland’s biggest free Hogmanay celebration while celebrations are also taking place in centres such as Aberdeen and Stirling.
More from Russia:
Updated
As President Macron delivered his New Year’s Eve address, demonstrators clad in high-visibility yellow vests gathered in Paris and other major cities to demand more measures in favour of the working poor and a greater say for ordinary people in the running of the country, in the form of citizen-sponsored referendums.
French police faced down protestors wearing yellow vests as they seemingly planned to celebrate the new year on the Aquitaine bridge in Bordeaux, south western France.
Almost 150,000 security force members have been deployed around France to keep the peace. It is expected that hundreds of cars will be set alight this evening in what has become a grim annual ritual that ties up police officers.
I will post a full report of Macron’s speech from our correspondent Angelique Chrisafis shortly.
Updated
Photos from Astana, “one of the strangest capital cities on Earth”, Kazakhstan.
The fireworks in Russia, live!
Russia welcomes in 2019 with a firework display https://t.co/hNtiLNoyon
— Sky News (@SkyNews) December 31, 2018
Putin struck a defiant tone in his national address and called on Russian’s to work together and become more prosperous just moments before the firework display.
Updated
The Observer columnist of Peep Show stardom, David Mitchell, has bade farewell to 2019 with some less than sincere – yet oddly plausible – predictions.
Several photos have just come through from Allepo, which the Syrian government recaptured last year.
Updated
In case you missed it: Hong Kong welcomed the new year with a pyrotechnics show over Victoria Harbour, while Taiwan’s capital held a firework display around the Taipei 101 skyscraper.
In South Korea, a traditional bell-tolling ceremony was held near City Hall in Seoul, and North Koreans watched fireworks and a music performance in Pyongyang.
Sydney Harbour in Australia held its biggest ever show. In New Zealand, colourful fireworks burst from the top of the Auckland Sky Tower
Updated
“Hogmanay” festivities are in full swing in the Scottish capital with a traditional ceilidh folk music dance for kilt-wearing revellers under Edinburgh Castle.
A whisky-fuelled street party was due to be attended by tens of thousands of people in the main Princes street thoroughfare before a concert by the Glasgow indie outfit Franz Ferdinand and a firework display.
Kicking things off at the mound! pic.twitter.com/67ZnqXFgJD
— Edinburgh's Hogmanay (@edhogmanay) December 31, 2018
“Hogmanay” is the Scots word for “last day of the year” and its origins stretch all the way back to the Vikings’ winter solstice celebrations.
Partying in Edinburgh began on Sunday with a torch-lit procession through the city and is set to end on New Year’s Day with a “loony dook” - or “crazy dip” - in the River Forth beneath its three famous bridges.
A collection of celebratory photos from south Asia.
Its 2019 in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Oman, Azerbaijan and Mauritius.
Dubai’s fireworks display, interspersed with state propaganda, is well worth watching back in full. The fireworks replace last year’s somewhat anticlimactic LED lightshow that ran down the facade of the 828-metre tower.
#WATCH: Dubai welcomes the new year 2019 pic.twitter.com/HOIT9GAXLE
— ANI (@ANI) December 31, 2018
Beneath a photo of Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of the Emirate of Dubai, read a statement proclaiming: “Future generations will look at our achievements and follow in our footsteps.”
The words ‘respect’, ‘wisdom’, and ‘sustainability’ were then beamed down the world’s tallest tower, the Burj Khalifa, before the ‘Year of Zayed’ was announced.
Cafes and restaurants with a view of the Burj Khalifa charge a premium for their locale on New Year’s Eve. Casual sandwich chain Pret a Manger, for example, charges $817 for a table of four. That price gets you hot and cold drinks and some canapes.
For burgers near the action, fast food chain Five Guys charged $408 per person for unlimited burgers, hotdogs, fries, milkshakes and soda.
Elsewhere in the United Arab Emirates, the emirate of Ras al-Khaimah attempted to set a new Guinness World Record with the longest straight-line display of fireworks reaching 7.35 miles.
Updated
You have to pay close attention to the world’s time zone’s when live-blogging New Year’s eve celebrations, and it brings into sharp focus the fact some cities are heralding the beginning of 2019 at different hours even though they sit on the same longitude. But why?
More here on the origins of the world’s time zones. They were first decided at an 1884 conference attended by around 40 states.
Updated
London’s sold-out New Year’s Eve fireworks show will show Europe that the capital will remain “open-minded” and “outward looking” post-Brexit, Sadiq Khan has said.
The London mayor said politicians in Westminster have given the world the impression that Britain is “insular, inward looking”, and emphasised the theme of the night’s programme that “London is open”. He said he hoped this year’s event would “send a message of support” to the more than one million European citizens who call London their home.
“Well one of the things which upset many, many Londoners and many people across our country and in Europe is the tone and language used by politicians in Westminster, giving the impression we’re insular, inward looking, not welcoming to Europeans,” he said on New Year’s eve.
“I think the Government’s made a mess of negotiations with the European Union. Bearing in mind Parliament can’t resolve the issue of how we will leave the European Union, we should allow the public to take back control with the option of staying in European Union, or accepting the deal made by the government.”
He vowed that London would remain the same after March 29 2019, adding: “What tonight is about is showing the world, while they’re watching us, that we’re going to carry on being open-minded, outward looking, pluralistic”.
Tonight’s about celebrating who we are as a city. We, in my opinion, are one of the greatest cities in the world, one of the reason we are one of the greatest cities in the world is because of the contribution made by Europeans.
I think diversity is a strength and I think what tonight is about is celebrating that diversity. I hope that members of Parliament, members of the Government will see the fireworks tonight, will listen to the soundtrack and will reflect on what sort of country they want to live in post-March.
The Thames-side display will bring together more than 100,000 spectators to watch the largest annual firework display in Europe, including eight tonnes of fireworks. Big Ben will return to action to start the countdown after remaining silent for the year during renovation works.
The Metropolitan Police advised ticket-holders to pack lightly and only bring essentials, as no backpacks or suitcases will be allowed into the event.
The event will be broadcast on BBC One.
New Year’s Eve celebrations are underway in Hajduszoboszlo, 200km east of Budapest, in Hungary ahead of midnight.
Tradition-keepers are cracking whips in line with 16th century traditions. According to folklore, local people chased away the Turkish army from the settlement with the sounds of cowbells and whips.
New Year’s Eve in the US is all about “the drop”, reports Joanna Walters in New York.
Lacking a Big Ben, Sydney Harbour Bridge fireworks or even the pips on Radio Four, Americans basically ignore local global icons such as the Empire State Building and have always turned to New York’s Times Square to mark the new year. Millions watch - crammed on the streets in person, freezing and without toilets, or on TV - a giant crystal, illuminated ball descending down a pole at midnight, high above the heart of New York City.
But many places across the US refuse to rely on the New York ball drop and have devised their own versions to mark midnight - but always involving a ‘drop’, according to this CNN report.
Idaho, the state most famous for producing spuds, has the New Year’s Eve potato drop. In the state capital, Boise, a giant, glowing fibre glass potato will be lowered on the stroke of 2019.
Idaho Potato Drop preparations underway https://t.co/qdYEeDgujS
— 6 On Your Side (@IdahoOnYourSide) December 31, 2018
Tallapoosa, in the state of Georgia, celebrates with a ‘possum drop’ - a stuffed possum is lowered inside a ball at midnight. Alabamians in the city of Mobile enjoy a moonpie drop. A 600-pound (270 kilo) imitation version of this beloved southern US snack - crafted from chocolate, marshmallow and sweet crackers - is lowered on New Year’s Eve after a giant version of the real thing is cut up and eaten by the crowds.
California wine country enjoys a grape drop, with a giant bunch of said fruit, while it’s party central in Florida, where different locations celebrate the passing of the old year with, variously, a flip-flop drop, a conch shell drop, a pirate’s wench drop (don’t ask, but it’s a live human), and an oversized lime wedge dropping into a giant margarita glass.
Tuna, a huge, illuminated version of a wall-eye fish, a large donut and a watermelon are ‘dropped’ in other parts of the country.
Updated
For anyone looking to toast the arrival of 2019, this is how to open a bottle of champagne according to racing driver Lando Norris.
How to open your bottles at midnight 😉 #HappyNewYear2019 pic.twitter.com/7g3yEiiKHM
— Lando Norris (@LandoNorris) December 31, 2018
A breathtaking displayer earlier in Kuala Lumpur.
Indians are celebrating the New Year on the streets of New Delhi.
WATCH: People in India are cheering and dancing on the streets of New Delhi to celebrate 2019 #HappyNewYear2019 pic.twitter.com/1HwBemuFQq
— TicToc by Bloomberg (@tictoc) December 31, 2018
Earlier today photographers captured the spectacular final sunset of 2018 in the south Asian state.
A quick round up on at how people are ushering in 2019, courtesy of the Associated Press:
As Russians raised toasts to celebrate across the country’s 11 time zones, President Vladimir Putin stressed the need to rely on internal resources to improve living standards. In a televised address just before midnight, Putin said that “we can achieve positive results only through our own efforts and well-coordinated teamwork.”
Raising life quality remains the top priority, he said, adding that it’s necessary to tap domestic resources to achieve the goal as “there wasn’t and there won’t be anyone to help.” The statement sounded like an oblique reference to continuing Russia-West tensions and Western sanctions.
The nation’s festive mood was marred by the collapse of an apartment building Monday in Magnitogorsk that killed at least four. Putin visited the city to oversee rescue efforts.
While many Thai’s celebrate New Year’s Eve with fireworks, hundreds travelled to Takien Temple in a suburb of Bangkok to lie inside coffins for traditional funeral rituals.
Participants believe the ceremony symbolizing death and rebirth helps rid them of bad luck and allows them to be born again for a fresh start in the new year.
They held flowers and incense in their hands as monks covered them with pink sheets and chanted prayers for the dead. “It wasn’t scary or anything. It is our belief that it will help us get rid of bad luck and bring good fortune to our life,” said Busaba Yookong, who came to the temple with her family.
Dozens of people have been injured in the Philippines ahead of New Year’s Eve, after powerful firecrackers were set off despite a government scare campaign and threats of arrests. The Department of Health said it has recorded more than 50 firecracker injuries in the past 10 days, which is expected to increase overnight when Filipinos usher in 2019.
Officials have urged centralized fireworks displays to discourage wild and sometimes fatal merrymaking. The notorious tradition, worsened by celebratory gunfire that turned deadly, stems from a Chinese-influenced belief that noise drives away evil and misfortune.
Earlier on Monday, suspected Muslim militants remotely detonated a bomb near the entrance of a mall in Cotabato as people did last-minute shopping ahead of celebrations, killing at least two and wounding nearly 30, officials said.
Japanese usually welcome the New Year with a visit to a temple or shrine, but some 30,000 people at Saitama Super Arena did it with Floyd Mayweather. The American boxer soundly defeated his opponent, Japanese kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa, in the first round of what was billed as three rounds of entertainment with no official record, meaning both fighters still retain their undefeated tallies.
“I told Tenshin to hold your head up high,” Mayweather said of his advice after the bout. Nasukawa was floored three times in the first round, and although he kept getting up, teetering, his father in the corner threw in the towel.
New Year’s Eve isn’t celebrated widely in mainland China, where the lunar New Year in February is a more important holiday, but countdown events were held in major cities, and some of the faithful headed to Buddhist temples for bell-ringing and prayers.
Beijing was holding a gala with VIP guests at the main site of the 2008 Summer Olympics. The event looked ahead to the 2022 Winter Games, which also will be held in the Chinese capital.
Happy New Year to people in Nepal, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Bhutan. I’ll post photos as and when they come in. India and Sri Lanka are next up in a few minutes.
What a time to be alive.
Meet two of the world’s first babies of 2019!
— UNICEF (@UNICEF) December 31, 2018
These little ones (a boy and a girl) were born at a UNICEF-supported hospital in Suva, Fiji on 1 January at 12.00am.
Welcome to the world! 👶👶#EveryChildALIVE #HappyNewYear2019 pic.twitter.com/mlUZ3UQUUC
It is now 2019 in Bangladesh following yesterday’s election which saw the prime minister Sheikh Hasina secure her third consecutive term in a landslide victory that the opposition alliance condemned as “farcical”. It claimed the vote was marred by violence and intimidation, amid accusations of vote rigging.
The New Year’s celebrations in Dhaka tonight are likely to be somewhat muted. An English-language newspaper announced earlier today a series of restrictions on freedom of assembly and movement. According to The Daily Star, those included:
- No meeting, gathering or celebration on rooftops, roads, flyovers or public place
- No open air cultural programme or function allowed
- Fireworks not allowed at any place
- People can enter Gulshan area through Kakoli crossing and Amtoli crossing, but after 6:00pm they have to show their ID cards
- Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has discouraged people who live in other areas from entering Gulshan, Banani, Baridhara and Dhaka University area
- After 6:00pm no one would be allowed to remain in Hatirjheel area
- Residents of Gulshan, Banani and Baridhara are requested to return in their respective homes before 8:00pm on December 31
- DMP will take measures to control narcotics
- Bars would remain closed after 6:00pm
- City dwellers are requested not to carry any licensed arms in public places on December 31 from 6:00pm to 6:00am of January 1
A police drone will be keeping watch over New Year’s celebrations in New York’s Times Square for the first ever time.
The Associated Press have more here in this lengthy, but very interesting report:
The unmanned eye-in-the-sky is the latest wrinkle in the New York City Police Department’s ever-evolving plan to keep revelers and “Rockin’ Eve” host Ryan Seacrest safe.
About 7,000 police officers will be on duty for Monday night’s festivities in Times Square, including counterterrorism teams with long guns and bomb-sniffing dogs. Police cars and sand-filled sanitation trucks will be positioned to stop vehicles from driving into the crowd.
And, above it all, a remote-controlled quadcopter will be giving police a unique view of the merriment and any potential mayhem. It’s the first time the NYPD is sending up a drone for a big event.
“That’s going to give us a visual aid and the flexibility of being able to move a camera to a certain spot with great rapidity through a tremendous crowd,” Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence and Counterterrorism John Miller said.
Police are also harnessing new technology to detect drones that aren’t authorized to fly.
The NYPD’s drone adds to a vast array of visual surveillance that includes more than 1,200 fixed cameras and feeds from police helicopters circling above.
The department started using drones this month. It says they’ll mainly be used for search-and-rescue missions, documenting crime scenes and monitoring large events.
Several of the NYPD’s drones are equipped with thermal-imaging and 3D-mapping capabilities and strong camera lenses that can greatly magnify a subject.
For safety, Chief of Department Terence Monahan said the New Year’s Eve drone will be tethered to a building and flown in a cordoned-off area so that no one gets hurt if it happens to fall. The drone will never fly directly above the crowd, he said.
Unlike a helicopter, a drone is small and makes little noise. Between the sounds of performers like Christina Aguilera and Bastille and the confetti that’ll be swirling at midnight, Monahan said some spectators might not even notice it.
“Once it’s up in the air, it will probably be hard to see,” he said.
Police Commissioner James O’Neill said there are no known, credible threats to the city or the New Year’s Eve event. He encouraged spectators to remain vigilant and to alert officers if they suspect something is awry.
“There’s probably going to be a cop within 10 feet of you,” Miller said. “If you see something, you can go right to them directly.”
Mayor Bill de Blasio said Friday that the city is expecting “up to 2 million people in Times Square itself” for the ball drop, repeating a figure often cited by city officials, organizers and television broadcasters.
Crowd-size experts say it’s impossible to cram that many people into the area, a bow-tie-shaped zone running five blocks between Broadway and 7th Avenue, and that the real total is likely fewer than 100,000.
No matter how many people actually show up, they’ll all be screened with metal detectors at security checkpoints and funneled into penned off areas to prevent overcrowding.
Umbrellas, backpacks and coolers are banned, but those kitschy “2019” glasses are most definitely allowed in. And there won’t be any popping champagne at midnight. The NYPD says alcohol is strictly prohibited.
That might be for the best. There aren’t any bathrooms, and anyone leaving the secure area won’t be allowed back to their original spot. That means they’ll risk missing the ball drop or having to squint hard to see it from a faraway vantage point.
Like last year, the NYPD is embedding detectives in hotels around Times Square in an attempt to thwart a potential attack like the one in Las Vegas last year in which a gunman shooting from a hotel room killed 59 people at an outdoor country music festival.
Here we have photos from Singapore, where 2019 was welcomed around an hour and a half ago.
The sky over Bangkok, Thailand, has been lit up by a spectacular fireworks display as the south-east Asian country ushers in the 2019.
Fireworks over Bangkok as Thailand welcomes in 2019#HappyNewYear2019 pic.twitter.com/Y5jfHv089Q
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) December 31, 2018
In Jakarta, Indonesia, crowds gathered at the Hotel Kempinski for the countdown.
WATCH: Huge crowds at Jakarta's Hotel Kempinski celebrate the countdown to 2019 in Indonesia #HappyNewYear2019 pic.twitter.com/jmbXObIiN7
— TicToc by Bloomberg (@tictoc) December 31, 2018
Elsewhere in the capital, the city’s government organised a free mass wedding for more than 500 poor Indonesian couples who may not possess official documents such as birth of marriage certificates, hamstringing their efforts to tie the knot – until now!
I’ll be taking over the blog now from colleagues, feel free to get in touch on Twitter if there is anything we might have missed from across the world this evening. Have a happy 2019!
As the UK gear’s up for the biggest party of the year, the London Ambulance Service has tweeted a plea to revellers to drink responsibly so they do not have to rely on their services.
Planning on drinking tonight to celebrate #NYE2018🍾?
— London Ambulance (@Ldn_Ambulance) December 31, 2018
Please do so responsibly so you don’t need our help! A lot of the people we are called to who've had too much to drink just need their friends to look after them and help them sober up.#NewYearsEve #HappyNewYear2019 pic.twitter.com/LZSIiIncQM
The New Year has been welcomed in in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong joins the global party and goes a bit Europop for a twist on Auld Lang Syne.
— ITV News (@itvnews) December 31, 2018
Here's the best of the fireworks so far and how the rest of the world is celebrating #NewYearsEve https://t.co/p8tRI62nza pic.twitter.com/VVaUuz3fW4
China’s President Xi Jinping has delivered a New year message in which he declared that the pace of reform in China will not stagnate and that the country’s door will be opened wider to the outside world.
Xi has repeatedly pledged his support for reform this year, as China marks 40 years since landmark changes to its economic model, amid mounting pressure to improve market access for foreign companies as a trade war with the United States weighs.
In a speech carried by all major state media, Xi said that in 2018 China had pushed more than 100 important reform measures.
“The world has seen a China whose reforms and opening up have gathered speed...,” Xi said.
“Our pace of reforms will not stagnate, and the door to opening up will widen further.”
Xi made no specific mention of the trade war with the United States, noting that 2019 would bring “opportunities and challenges”.
It’s going to be a big year for the world’s second largest economy - this Guardian piece has the lowdown on some of the challenges - not least, as ever, on the Human Rights front.
In particular, security is expected to be tight on June 4 as the Chinese and the rest of the world remember the killing of several hundred civilians during a military crackdown on democratic protest in 1989 in Tiananmen Square.
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The Pope has been adding his voice to the end of year messages:
Let us give thanks to God for the year drawing to an end, recognizing that all the good is His gift.
— Pope Francis (@Pontifex) December 31, 2018
As it happens, the pope’s tweet comes at the end of a year of upheaval in the Holy See’s communications structure, which continued today with the resignations of the Vatican spokesman and his deputy over disagreements on strategy.
A brief Vatican statement gave no reason for the resignations. Spokesman Greg Burke, an American, tweeted that he and his Spanish deputy, Paloma Garcia Ovejero, had quit to let Pope Francis appoint a new team in what was a “time of transition”.
A Vatican source quoted by Reuters said both Burke and Ovejero had wanted more autonomy from the Vatican department that oversees all communications, known as the Dicastery for Communications.
In the Philippines, dozens of people have been injured by firecrackers ahead of New Year’s Eve, when many across the country set off powerful firecrackers in one of Asia’s most violent celebrations despite a government scare campaign and threats of arrests.
The Department of Health said it has recorded more than 50 firecracker-caused injuries in the last 10 days, which is expected to increase overnight when Filipinos usher in 2019 with a bang.
Although still a concern, the figure is significantly lower than a year ago, partly because fewer Filipinos have purchased firecrackers due to hard economic times.
Officials have urged centralized fireworks displays to discourage wild and sometimes fatal merry-making. The notorious tradition, worsened by celebratory gunfire that turned deadly, stems from a Chinese-influenced belief that noise drives away evil and misfortune.
The World Health Organisation has been suggesting some alternative methods of celebration:
Let's have a safe and healthy New Year’s Eve celebration!
— World Health Organization Philippines (@WHOPhilippines) December 31, 2018
Try alternate means of welcoming 2019:
🎆 Watch the community fireworks display
🎉 Blow a horn
🍲 Clang household items together such as pots & pans
🎶 Sing#HappyNewYear2019! pic.twitter.com/56cu2DJE9h
New Year celebrations are working their way across other countries, including North Korea. Reuters have been streaming events in the DPRK here:
North Korea celebrates the New Year with fireworks display #NYE https://t.co/63RUi9lCqG
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) December 31, 2018
Tokyo has also been celebrating
Watch Live - Tokyo Celebrates the New Year https://t.co/Z72HBdtzFp
— CBS4 Miami (@CBSMiami) December 31, 2018
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Some New Year’s Even messages have already been released by political figures, including this one from Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn:
In 2019, let's rebuild Britain for the many, not the few. pic.twitter.com/TRNK9ueFM9
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) December 31, 2018
and Scotland’s First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon
A message as we prepare to leave 2018 behind and welcome in the new year. Best wishes to all. https://t.co/cTeS6OAZre
— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) December 31, 2018
and Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable
As we enter 2019, time is ticking down on Brexit, and with it the whole future of the country.
— Vince Cable (@vincecable) December 31, 2018
The history books will look back on the coming three months as critical.
Let's get out there in 2019 and win the fight for a People's Vote and a brighter future for Britain. pic.twitter.com/dB4QSTeD3r
Theresa May has yet to put one out on twitter. Downing Street have released this 2018 Diary Highlights video, although it is fairly sparing on mentions of Brexit other than including footage of the prime minister making a statement in the House of Commons at the end.
Suzanne Moore has written a piece for the Guardian in which she says that she’ll be raising a glass in 2019 to the “many great and good women out there who shine light into the darkness,” to #MeToo, and “to a world in which we keep fighting for basic freedoms”. She adds:
Because we can win. We can beat the fundamentalists. Think of that glorious day in May in Ireland when women finally won the right to control their own bodies.
Think about how that felt … and hold on to that feeling. We are just beginning.
On the topic of Ireland and its voters’ legalisation of abortion, the first day of 2019 sees the referendum result become a legal reality. Terminations will be legal up to 12 weeks’ gestation for the first time in the history of the state.
Ireland’s health minister today described the introduction of abortion services in the country from January 1 as “momentous”.
Simon Harris also said he is confident there are enough GPs to provide the service.
“(It) is really a momentous day,” he said
“Abortion is a very sensitive issue. We’re talking about women in crisis pregnancies... we’re talking about people in very, very difficult situations. Up until now... their options have been to travel or to go on the internet. All that changes (as of January 1).”
It follows a referendum in May which paved the way for the liberalisation of the country’s strict abortion laws.
Some 66.4% of the electorate voted to repeal an amendment in the Irish constitution, which effectively banned the termination of pregnancies, and replace it with legislation to introduce abortions up to 12 weeks without restriction.
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Security deployed for NYE celebrations across France
More than 147,000 security forces will be deployed to New Year’s Eve celebrations across France as gilets jaunes anti-government protesters were expected on the Champs Élysées in Paris and Emmanuel Macron prepared a televised address on his plans for 2019 amid plummeting approval ratings and continuing unrest.
Tens of thousands of police officers, military personnel, civil security guards and firefighters will be stationed in major cities in part due to the ongoing terrorist threat after a gunman killed five people at Strasbourg’s Christmas market earlier this month.
But security has also been reinforced in Paris and cities including Bordeaux and Nice in case of surprise anti-government protests by the gilets jaunes – or “yellow vests” – movement.
Anti-government demonstrators are continuing to barricade roundabouts and motorway tollbooths and still come to major cities each Saturday to protest for better pay and conditions and against what they see as Macron’s arrogance and disconnection from real-life and his tax policies in favour of the rich.
Regular protests in Paris and other cities have led to violent skirmishes with police, car-burnings and attacks on shops and banks (Read on).
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Organisers of the Times Square ball drop, New York City’s traditional New Year’s ceremony, have invited a group of journalists to press the ceremonial button.
Tim Tompkins, president of the Times Square Alliance, said in a statement it was “fitting to celebrate free press and free speech as we reflect on where we’ve been during the past year and what it is we value most as a society”.
Among the group will be Karen Attiah, who as global opinions editor of the Washington Post oversaw the work of Jamal Khashoggi, the Saudi writer resident in the US who was murdered and dismembered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October.
The death of Khashoggi has been perhaps the highest-profile incident in a year for of worrying developments for press freedom around the world. Attiah has become a prominent voice in attempts to hold to account Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, accused of responsibility for the murder, and his allies in the Trump White House.
The group of journalists onstage as midnight approaches will be accompanied by Joel Simon, executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, a group which has had a busy year under an onslaught of criticism from President Donald Trump.
Among institutions regularly derided by the president as “fake news”, the New York Times will be represented by deputy managing editor Rebecca Blumenstein, CNN will send anchor Alisyn Camerota, and NBC will provide Lester Holt, the anchor who famously interviewed Trump about his firing of FBI director James Comey, an event at the heart of the Mueller investigation into Russian election interference and links between Trump and Moscow.
In September, CNN was among targets of explosive devices allegedly sent in the mail by a fervent Trump supporter.
The Times Square celebrations will feature the usual celebrities and singers, with Snoop Dogg, Sting and Christina Aguilera booked to do their spangly thing. Forecasters have predicted a more comfortable evening than last year, which was one of the coldest on record. This time, rain will be possible as the gathered throng sees Bebe Rexha sing Imagine, by John Lennon, before the traditional new year countdown.
Jeff Straus, president of Countdown Entertainment, which produces the Times Square show, said: “As the ball drops, the special guests will lead the 60-second countdown to 2019 joined by millions of revelers with a message of unity and harmony for the new year.
“We thank the news organisations and the journalists for helping us celebrate journalism and press freedom around the world.”
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The British author Philip Hoare has written a piece in which he considers how the environmental damage being inflicted on the planet has briefly slowed down over the past week and a half, and how new possibilities are still possible.
It’s fairly brief and worth a read. Here’s a snatch:
But now, for a few days, that insatiable human speed has slowed down. Like a sudden fall of snow, it’s as if the turning has forced an amnesty between us and the rest of creation. In the interregnum that this end of the year creates, the natural world briefly resumes its sway.
We have time to peer up at the moon, see shooting stars, smell air that isn’t filled with diesel fumes; some of us even dare to swim in the sea, relishing the barbaric cold for the way that it reminds us we are physical beings, alive and mortal, and the way that the tides determine another kind of timetable.
It awaits a new start. Lying on our backs, we might look up at the night sky where stories began, as John Berger said.
Got to say though, Sydney did look fairly spectacular.
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Emergency services in the UK are gearing up for their busiest night of the year.
The Metropolitan Police advised ticket-holders for tonight’s fireworks show to pack lightly and only bring essentials, as no backpacks or suitcases will be allowed into the event.
The event will be broadcast on BBC One for those who were unable to buy a ticket.
Questions about attending the #LondonNYE Firework celebrations? Visit @London_Gov’s frequently asked questions https://t.co/NeTfGI43iE pic.twitter.com/5ueO5NorJ8
— Westminster Council (@CityWestminster) December 30, 2018
Road closures in central London will start from 2pm today, these include the following bridges: #Lambeth, #Westminster, #Waterloo and #Blackfriars. The area is expected to be very busy with people travelling into the city #LondonNYE #NYE2018 https://t.co/ZErKJQCX1C
— Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) December 31, 2018
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In London, the silence that has mostly enveloped Big Ben since renovation work began on it in August 2017 will be broken tonight as the temporary bells ring out from inside the scaffolding
As with Edinburgh, Brexit appears to be very much in the background to the shape of this year’s celebrations in the city.
London’s sold-out New Year’s Eve fireworks show will be a celebration of the capital’s relationship with Europe, Sadiq Khan has said.
As part of the mayor’s London Is Open campaign, his office said the event will send a message of support to the more than one million European citizens living in the capital.
Khan has previously expressed his backing for a People’s Vote and has voiced his concerns over the effects of a no-deal Brexit on the capital.
The display will bring together more than 100,000 spectators to watch the largest annual firework display in Europe, including eight tonnes of fireworks.
Of course, the new year has also hit other Australian cities including Melbourne... not that there seems to be any sort of rivalry or anything about how they ring it in...
Sydney fireworks 💩 all over Melbourne's #fact #HappyNewYear2019
— Haylee (@Htotheaylee) December 31, 2018
So #Melbourne gives everyone free #NYE2018 public transport while #SydNYE charges people to sit on public grass behind black plastic that blocks out the fireworks. Well done #Sydney. Bleed your people dry. 🙄
— Nicole (@Nicole01068331) December 31, 2018
I am a Melbourne girl to my absolute core, but I will concede that Sydney definitely put on a better fireworks show every year. Happy new year, Twitter! #NYE2019
— Jess Radl (@jessradl) December 31, 2018
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New year on the east coast of Australia
It’s 2019 in Sydney, where Reuters are broadcasting the fireworks display live
LIVE: Sydney celebrates New Year's Eve with fireworks display #NYE https://t.co/ZMTgwut4bA
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) December 31, 2018
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New Year’s Eve isn’t celebrated that widely in mainland China, where the lunar New Year in February is a more important holiday, but countdown events were being held in major cities and some of the faithful headed to Buddhist temples for bell-ringing and prayers.
The city of Beijing was holding a gala with VIP guests at the main site of the 2008 Summer Olympics. The event looked ahead to the 2022 Winter Games, which also will be held in the Chinese capital.
Additional police were deployed in parts of Shanghai, where a New Year’s Eve stampede in 2014 killed 36 people. In Beijing, outdoor revelers had to brave temperatures well below freezing.
President Xi Jingping, in a message broadcast at the top of the evening news, outlined the country’s achievements over the past year and said that by hosting a series of multinational meetings in 2018, “we have put forward China’s proposals and sent out China’s voice.”
In Hong Kong, festive lights on the city’s iconic skyscrapers provided the backdrop for a fireworks, music and light show over Victoria Harbor on a chilly evening. About 300,000 people were expected to line the waterfront.
The new year is also nearing in Korea, where, after an eventful year that saw three inter-Korean summits and the easing of tensions over North Korea’s nuclear program, South Koreans enter 2019 with hopes that the hard-won detente will expand into a stable peace.
Thousands of South Koreans were expected to fill the streets of the capital, Seoul, for a traditional bell-tolling ceremony near City Hall to usher in the new year.
Dignitaries picked to ring the old Bosingak bell at midnight include famous surgeon Lee Guk-jong, who successfully operated on a North Korean soldier who escaped to South Korea in 2017 in a hail of bullets fired by his comrades.
Elsewhere, about 10,000 people were expected to attend the tolling of a “peace bell” at Imjingak, a pavilion near the border with North Korea.
In the north, Leader Kim Jong Un is expected to give his annual address on New Year’s Day laying out the country’s priorities for the year ahead.
The speech is often the best gauge of what the North Korean leadership is focused on and what tone it will take in its dealings with the outside world.
Kim’s speech it will be parsed carefully for clues about his thinking on denuclearization talks with Washington and a second summit with President Donald Trump, relations with South Korea, and North Korea’s efforts to get out from under international sanctions as it tries to build its domestic economy.
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The UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, has issued a bleak New Year’s message that called climate change an existential threat and warned that “it’s time to seize our last best chance.”
He noted growing intolerance, geo-political divisions and inequality, resulting in people “questioning a world in which a handful of people hold the same wealth as half of humanity.”
“But there are also reasons for hope,” he said. “As we begin this New Year, let’s resolve to confront threats, defend human dignity and build a better future together.”
One year ago, I issued a red alert to the world. The dangers still exist, but I also see reasons for hope. In 2019, let us build on them and create a better future for all. Happy New Year. pic.twitter.com/S31Q09x1HE
— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) December 29, 2018
Linking the fate of nations like Kiribati with New Year’s resolutions for a moment, the Extinction Rebellion climate protest group is urging people to ‘Rebel for Life on Earth’ as their resolution.
From 1st to 7th January 2019, it is inviting anyone interested to take part in Extinction Rebellion’s ‘Rebel for Life on Earth’ campaign.
Douglas Rogers, one of Extinction Rebellion organisers, said:
Complementing Extinction Rebellion’s nonviolent peaceful protests which aim to highlight the stark reality of government and media inaction in the face of human-caused ecological collapse, this January we are asking people to take time to reflect on their personal and collective relationship with different aspects of the foundations of life on earth.
We’re still waiting (and might be in perpetuity) on the first images to come in showing New Year on the Pacific island nation of Kiribati, the first in the world to welcome the new year.
Made up of low-lying atolls which straggle along the equator, celebrations are likely to have been on the muted side however after its people spent 2018 on the frontline of the battle against climate change.
Much of the nation’s land mass, occupied by 110,000 people, is endangered by rising seas which have inundated coastal villages. The rising oceans have turned fresh water sources brackish, imperilling communities and raising doubts the nation will exist at the next New Year.
Former President Anote Tong said the only future for Kiribati may be mass migration.
The new year was welcomed in the capital, Tarawa, with church services and mostly quiet private celebrations, reports the Associated press.
If you’re curious about Kiribati, or indeed, care about the very real existential challenges it faces in the decades ahead you could do worse than read this piece from the Guardian’s Kate Lyons about Tong’s work to advocate for more robust action on climate change.
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The New Year’s resolutions have started to filter through...
My New Year’s Resolution is to annoy less grammar pedants.
— Richard Osman (@richardosman) December 31, 2018
#BestOf2018
— UNDP Palestine (@UNDPPalestinian) December 30, 2018
Have you made your New Year’s resolution? How about this:
🔸Become a gender champion
🔸Help to show the impact of the UN
🔸Play a role in achieving the #SDGs pic.twitter.com/PnSshNkvsf
For all the people making lofty new year’s resolutions right now — I wrote you a poem pic.twitter.com/vupG4x3yWG
— Pandora Sykes (@PINsykes) December 30, 2018
Next up is Australia, where the cities of Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra will be celebrating in around an hour and half from now.
On the other side of the world, meanwhile, preparations are at an advanced stage for what is still one of the best known and oldest events: Edinburgh’s Hogmanay
As the clock ticks down towards Brexit, organisers say this year’s event in the Scottish capital celebrates the ties between Scotland and Europe as the UK prepares to leave the EU in 2019.
Bands, DJs, street performers, dancers, acrobats and fire eaters from Scotland and mainland Europe will be performing at the street party, which starts at 7.30pm.
There will be music across three stages, with Gerry Cinnamon headlining the Waverley stage, Judge Jules headlining the DJ stage in Castle Street and Elephant Sessions on stage in South St David Street.
Franz Ferdinand will headline the Concert in the Gardens at the foot of Castle Rock, supported by Metronomy and Free Love, while some of the country’s top ceilidh bands will play at Ceilidh under the Castle.
The three-day festival opened on Sunday with the traditional torchlight procession, culminating in Holyrood Park where the outline of Scotland was lit up.
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Something else to look out for now in 2019? A return trip to the UK by Donald Trump.
The possibility was floated in an interview this morning with the BBC by the US ambassador to the UK, Woody Johnson.
Asked whether the state visit promised last year by Theresa May could be rescheduled to coincide with a commemoration of the end of the second world war in May, Johnson told Nick Robinson on the Today Programme: “Between you and me, I think that would be a good time.”
Which also (possibly?) means the return of...
It’s a few minutes to midnight now in New Zealand (where Auckland Council has promised to turn a deaf ear to New Year’s Eve noise complaints).
The New Zealand Herald reports that the council has said it will not be attending any party noise complaints between 6pm on December 31, 2018 and 2am on January 1, 2019.
Meanwhile, folks have been getting in the mood.
Happy New Year to all my friends and followers. We are in Palmerston North, New Zealand. Celebrating the date hours before you😄 pic.twitter.com/VobgZ7bTvo
— John Caplin (@johncaplin) December 31, 2018
Just 2 hours left of 2018 here in Lincoln near Christchurch New Zealand and taking in the atmosphere in the local pub with the guest band. Happy New Year to all when it comes for you pic.twitter.com/rxyAnUNxkJ
— Frank H (@Jimmy_McColl) December 31, 2018
So they’ve just said hello to 2019 in the Pacific. Next up is New Zealand in less than an hour’s time, before they crack open the champagne in Australia (or just pull the duvet a bit tighter over the head.. depending on your style)
It’s been a fairly soggy run-up in Sydney however, where thousands of people waiting to watch the New Year’s Eve fireworks around the harbour were battered by torrential rain as a thunderstorm swept in.
There’s also been some disquiet about those famous fireworks. Sydney’s lord mayor, Clover Moore, has called ticketed New Year’s Eve events around the city’s harbour an “outrageous” money-making exercise by the state government.
Tomorrow meanwhile sees the inauguration of Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right, pro-gun, pro-torture populist elected in 2018. He’ll begin a four year term in office, to the joy of some, to the horror of others.
Either way, he’s going to somewhat unavoidable in 2019, so here he is in his own words:
Now the world has dipped its toe into 2019, here’s a look ahead to the new year’s elections, anniversaries, awards, contests – and ( unavoidably?) Brexit
Some of the key first news events of the year include the first meeting - in a few days - of the USA’s 116th Congress after Democrats won a majority in the House of Representatives last year.
February in particular looks like it might... er... be interesting. NT7, a two-to-four kilometre-wide asteroid discovered by astronomers in 2002, is expected to pass close to Earth. Nasa representatives have said there is no chance of a collision. That’s on the day of the month.
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Happy 2019 Samoa
So Happy New Year, Samoa (and Kiritimati), where the memories of this time last year aren’t exactly the best.
The year started with a few that consumed a large part of the Fa’asootauloa Pati building at Vaitele.
Here’s a look back at the nation’s year from the Samoa Observer:
What a year. We had a bit of everything. There was joy, laughter, good, bad and the ugly. https://t.co/pX3WYdHdKO
— Samoa Observer (@samoa_observer) December 31, 2018
Fans enjoy the music at the Wondergarden Festival during the celebrations at Silo Park in Auckland, New Zealand.
As we await the first fireworks of 2019, here a selection of some of the defining image of 2018, from California wildfires and an erupting volcano to a close-up crocodile snap
For many though, it might be hard to look past this one of US border agents detaining a Honduran mother and child.
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Another year over, it's New Year's Eve 2018
So, feeling optimistic?
We’re on the cusp of a new year and the first celebrations are set to break out in the Pacific on Christmas Island and Samoa, where clocks hit midnight in less than 15 minutes.
Welcome to the Guardian’s coverage of the new year festivities as they roll inexorably around the globe. We’ll be bringing you the highlights, images and resolutions over the course of today and tonight.
It’s been a year where - if you’re in the UK and the US - the headlines have been dominated by Donald Trump and Brexit.
Around the world the headlines have included a horrific conflict in Yemen, the ongoing conflict in Syria, ‘Yellow Vest’ protests in France, the election of a new, far right, president in Brazil, the Khashoggi affair, a US-China trade war, the migrant caravan making its way across Mexico towards the US border and rising global temperatures as people have felt the impact of heatwaves and wildfires. Bear with us as we may have left out a few.
There have also been moments of clear, unambiguous joy of course.
If you’re French, it might have been your World Cup Win. Or, think of the rescue of 12 young Thai footballers and their coach after they were trapped in flooded caves, for example.
And now we’re about step into 2019. Ever get the feeling that you need to tighten your seatbelt a bit?
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